Judge-elect who questions president's citizenship was promoted on same material

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The “Election Digest” mailer made a number of suggestions for candidates and issues, but it was the top and the bottom of the ticket that might make you wonder.

For president? Barack Obama.

For Superior Court judge? Gary Kreep.

The mailer didn’t say it, but Kreep is a conservative lawyer who has challenged the legitimacy of Obama’s birth certificate. He won his judgeship in June with a low-budget campaign that featured several such “slate mailers” — a common political tool for low-visibility races.

This breed of political communication, which will soon start appearing again for November’s elections, lists several candidates and issues and leaves the impression that they stand together on a particular party or issue. Often, that’s not the case.

Kreep reported paying several slate mailer organizations about $30,000 before the June primary. It was the bulk of his advertising budget. Other local judicial candidates also spent money to appear on slates, even though their races are nonpartisan.

Slate mailers are cheap, they’re targeted and they work, according to Allan Hoffenblum, a former slate mailer producer. He got into the slate mail business about four decades ago, and, as he put it, “made a huge sum of money” from them.

“These judges use them because it’s about the only thing that they can afford,” Hoffenblum said. Even incumbent judges can’t raise the kind of money they would need for customized mailings, he said.

“You can get your name on a slate card, with a persuasive message, for something like three cents, a nickel, at the most maybe a dime (per card),” Hoffenblum said. “They’re very cost effective for candidates.”

State and local Democrat and Republican groups usually distribute slate mailers listing their endorsed candidates.

The other, unofficial mailings, are produced by for-profit companies and can carry markings that evoke party themes such as elephants, donkeys or portraits of Ronald Reagan.

“They usually have a fireman, a dog, a puppy, a baby or a flag on it, to make it look very patriotic,” said Carl Luna, political science professor at San Diego Mesa College. “The hope is that voters who haven’t made up their minds will look at that and say ‘Hey, my choices are made for me.’”

Here’s how it works: candidates pay a fee — usually a couple thousand dollars — to appear on a given number of mailers. The producers fill the open, unsold spots with a range of other candidates. An asterisk designates which candidates paid to appear on the mailer.

In the case of the mailing that included Kreep and Obama, it indicates that Kreep paid and Obama did not. The originator, the Torrance-based Coalition for Literacy, did not return an email and three telephone calls for this story. Kreep also did not respond to requests for comment.

In the mailer, Kreep is listed as a “proven fighter for human rights” who will make “no deals with criminal predators.” The same mailer indicates Republican Assembly candidate Sherry Hodges paid to be listed — and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein is promoted with no indication that she paid.